Minibank Grants 47% More Loans During 2015

Minibank Grants 47% More Loans During 2015

According to the information offered by the chairman of Bank, the microcredit subsidiary of this bank, granted 121625 loans during 2015, which is 47.3% more than the loans offered during 2014 and, turn, practically twice as many as were granted in 2013.

The total amount of these loans granted by minibank amounted to a very acceptable amount: 588 million euros, 35.4% more than what was lent during the previous year. According to the figures offered by Bank, practically two thirds of the total was allocated to personal and family loans, while the rest of the money was used to grant loans to entrepreneurs, micro-enterprises and the self-employed. According to the president of Bank “minibank activity has recorded its highest growth rate when the circumstances are more adverse.”

What you should know about minibank

This is a bank fully owned by Bank and fully specialized in micro loans that began operating in 2007 as a way to satisfy the financial needs that the rest of the banking entities did not cover. This activity, until now, was carried out from la by its Obra Social.

Since its creation in 2007, minibank has granted a very encouraging amount of loans, around 420,000, with amounts of € 25,000 that can amount to € 50,000 if they are aimed at social enterprises. To access this type of loans, no real guarantees, such as mortgages, deposits or goods, are requested by the client, despite which the moority index is very low, since it is less than 5%.

According to minibank’s own words, what makes your model sustainable is:

The diversification they have both in profiles and in the type of loans.

The support of nothing more and nothing less than 570 collaborating companies (among them some like the Women’s Institute, Barcelona Activa or Red Cross) that are in charge of advising applicants about the project for which they wish to apply for a loan.

The support of the European Investment Fund that provides minibank with an additional guarantee.

According to Antonio Vila, president of minibank, this entity “grants all its operations without real guarantees of any kind, based exclusively on knowledge and trust in the applicant and the viability of its project”.

Since its birth in 2007, minibank has undoubtedly experienced a truly significant growth since 2013 and for the first time during 2015, the entity has been able to exceed a number of personal loans or families exceeding 100,000, which means an increase of 64.4%. This very high increase is mainly due to the credits of the Master Erasmus + program, which minibank began granting since last year to those students who wish to take a master’s degree in another European Union country. In fact, minibank has allocated 30 million euros to this type of credit, which students must start paying one year after their stay abroad.

In addition to the microcredits for students, its other major line of action is aimed at financing business initiatives, granting around 21,300 loans for entrepreneurs, micro-enterprises and self-employed workers in 2015, which represents an increase of 15.1% compared to the year 2014.

But undoubtedly the crisis has been the main factor that has increased the activity of this entity, making minibank a basic tool to support economic activity and especially among those groups that do not find credit within the traditional financial system.